Edge Festival Highlight: Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

Tess Askew | Tuesday, 02 September 2008

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip played at Edinburgh's Liquid Room venue as part of the city's Edge Festival. Here's what we thought...

DJ Dan Le Sac takes to the stage first. He seems really cheery and pleased to be there, and started the set by playing a few tunes - most memorable of all, a mash up of the Antiques Roadshow theme with a massive beat behind it. Scroobius Pip comes on and bursts straight into set-opener 'Beat That My Heart Skipped'. He's really captivating; the whole crowd just stands and watches him while listening to every word. His flow is amazing and his intelligent words make you take notice. He then informs the crowd this is the duo's first time in Edinburgh, which makes it feel even more special.

Dan Le Sac is an interesting DJ and keeps the whole set going, you can see why these guys record and perform together, as it's clear to see how much they complement each other. Scroobius Pip asks who listens to UK hip-hop to cheers from the crowd, to which his response is "why? Most of it is sh*t!", before launching into a scathing attack in tune form on UK, and hip-hop artists in general. Dan le Sac heads off stage for a few minutes, before Scroobius gives the crowd one of his spoken word performances. The crowd are silent throughout this, listening intently to every word he has to say and when he finishes, the cheers are massive.

They then take on a cover, interestingly of the Sugababes' 'Push The Button'. To begin with, the crowd are slow to get into it, and this isn't because they aren’t enjoying it, it just seems that no one wants to admit to it, but after about a minute, people are moving, and it is a success. Next up, 'Thou Shall Always Kill' starts and the crowd go mad for it, lots of people are shouting the lyrics and almost everyone moves when the beat hits. This was definitely the highlight of the set for me, and for most people, judging by the reaction.

They finish on current song 'Letter From God To Man', which features a Radiohead sample, and gets nearly as big a reception as 'Thou Shall Always Kill'. Dan Le Sac stays on for a bit, mashing up records with his own beats behind it, and when he leaves, the crowd don't want to leave. There are calls for more, but this doesn’t happen.

It's always nice to see an act who love what they do, and are good at it, and these guys certainly tick both those boxes.